Although New Yorkers pride themselves on being big on choice, the truth is that conservatives haven’t had much choice in candidates for mayor. Thomas Ognibene is hoping to rectify that situation by running against Mayor Bloomberg in the Republican primary.

The former minority leader of the City Council was not at all perturbed by news that the mayor had sewn up endorsements from four of the Republican county organizations. At our meeting in City Hall, Mr. Ognibene said: “I knew as soon as I received the Queens County endorsement that he would move very quickly to secure himself within those other counties, and I’ve spoken with the leadership in those counties and they told me they were heavily pressured by the state Republican Party chair and from the governor’s office.”

When Mr, Ognibene met with the Staten Island leadership, he was told he was the Republican candidate closest to them on the issues and had the most respect for their principles, but they clearly understood that Mr. Bloomberg was the incumbent with the money, and that was the direction the county organization had chosen.

“But I’ve never been upset because my goal has always been to give Republicans a real choice and to make Mr. Bloomberg keep his promises and keep the faith with our party,” Mr. Ognibene said.

His presence in the race has changed Mr. Bloomberg’s attitude toward Republicans, according to Mr. Ognibene. “He thought he had them in his back pocket,” the candidate from Queens said, “and all of a sudden he didn’t. So now he’s out there making commitments for things that he had refused to do.”

According to Mr. Ognibene, the mayor always has to have his feet held to the fire.

“Look at the stadium. Here’s a perfect example. He was ready to give it away to the Jets for $100 million. Until somebody came in and challenged him, he wasn’t going to budge. Now the Jets have been required to offer $720 million. That’s $600 million more. Meanwhile, he was willing to put in $600 million of your money and my money to take care of his friend Woody Johnson.” Mr. Johnson is the Jets owner, and $600 million is the city and state subsidy in the stadium plan.

I asked Mr. Ognibene if his candidacy is being undertaken more to hold the mayor’s feet to the fire than to win.

“I believe that head-to-head in a Republican primary,” he responded, “that I have just as good a chance as Mr. Bloomberg to win. … One of the questions that I ask when I speak to Republican groups is, ‘Tell me the difference between Mr. Bloomberg and any of the Democratic candidates.’ And there’s absolute silence in the room.”

When I asked why he withdrew from the mayor’s race in 2001, he said he was asked by Governor Pataki and the state party chairman to meet with Mr. Bloomberg, who had the resources to mount a successful campaign. In that meeting, Mr. Bloomberg told Mr. Ognibene he had experienced an epiphany. Mr. Ognibene believed him and withdrew his candidacy, because, he said, he’s always been a loyal Republican soldier, and he even ended up campaigning for Mr. Bloomberg.

But he told me: “Bloomberg’s not a Republican. He has made an accusation that the party was interested in patronage. It’s not about patronage. It’s about having a commitment to the principles of the party.”

“The only patronage that’s happened in City Hall in the last four years is that ex-Mayor Koch’s and ex-Mayor Dinkins’s aides and friends, who participated in the decline of New York in the ’70s and ’80s, have been brought back to govern,” the challenger said. “He has completely removed from office just about every Rudy Giuliani appointee. He has consecutively appointed 60 judges, none of them Republican.”

Mr. Bloomberg, Mr. Ognibene charged, gives lip service to the Republicans but has no respect for the party’s principles. He is also, Mr. Ognibene said, “a petty and vindictive man.” For example, Mr. Bloomberg’s rival said, the mayor refused to speak at the Juniper Park Civic Association’s award dinner for Council Member Dennis Gallagher if Mr. Ognibene was to be present. When told the message would be relayed to the guests present, the mayor relented, but he stood outside the auditorium while Mr. Ognibene said a few words of praise for Mr. Gallagher, his chief of staff for 10 years.

Still, Mr. Bloomberg is a billionaire and Mr. Ognibene is not, so how on earth can he compete, I asked. “Anyone who does business with the city is scared to donate to my campaign.” Mr. Ognibene said. He has received more than 500 contributions, but they’re small. Nevertheless, he’s now on the Internet, online at www.ognibeneforny.com, and he hopes his message will reach conservative Republicans, who will now have a real choice in the primary besides the little-known third candidate, Steven Shaw.

This is getting interesting.